Gaming and other entertainment machines and devices such as slot machines, video poker and blackjack, video games and other entertainment devices are highly profitable sources of revenue for casinos, slot parlors, video game arcades, and other gaming, gambling and entertainment operators. Such devices often require a base upon which the device may be seated. Such bases typically provide a support structure which places the device at a height and orientation which is suitable for a user to operate the device. Bases of this type may also provide a housing for utilities necessary to support the device such as electrical wiring, computer cables, and the like.
Bases which are currently available are generally custom built, fixed in size, and not easily scalable to accommodate the various sizes of devices which such bases support. Such bases are fabricated prior to shipping and are therefore bulky, expensive, and difficult to transport. Prefabricated bases are also difficult to install and do not permit modification to accommodate particular size and floor space issues which are often not realized until after the base has been delivered to the installation site. In addition, current bases do not promote ease in the maintenance of the device and the device's supporting utilities, such as electrical and computer lines. For example, one such base provides a service access panel on the side of the base facing the user of the machine. This access panel is at floor level, making it difficult to fish electrical and computer data leads from the device to a desired source and/or between devices.
In addition, for safety, structural and operational issues, it is important that each base be properly leveled to the surface which it is installed. In order to level such bases, it is necessary to employ crude and time consuming methods of leveling each base to ensure that the device is secure and does not shift on or fall off the base, and that the base itself is not subjected to stresses in the base due to lack of proper support therein causing the device to become unstable from a failure in a member of the base. Such crude and time consuming leveling methods include locating the point on the base where the base is not properly supported, and preparing and installing properly sized metal or wooden shim at the point of deficient support. Failure to install properly sized shim may lead to instability of the base and malfunctioning of the device, and/or injury to the user due to such instability. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved method and apparatus for leveling entertainment and gaming machine bases.
Moreover, dramatic increases in the number of establishments such as casinos, slot parlors, video game arcades, and other gaming, gambling and entertainment establishments, as well as the always present desire to maximize the number of revenue producing devices per square foot of establishment floor space, has created an increased need for an improved apparatus, system and method for configuring and supporting such devices. Also, there exists a need for an improved system for the assembly and configuration of such bases, as well as a base which facilitates the servicing and maintenance of the devices which such bases support, therein reducing the time a revenue producing device is out of service. Additionally, with skyrocketing fuel costs and the premium being placed on efficient transportation logistics, there exists a need for an improved entertainment and gaming device base, system and method which is easily, efficiently and inexpensively scaled, transported, assembled, and configured to the establishment floor.